


Find Your Way

by Shadadukal



Series: Lost Horizons [2]
Category: Sanctuary (TV), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-10
Updated: 2011-08-10
Packaged: 2017-10-22 11:40:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/237635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadadukal/pseuds/Shadadukal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nikola calls on Erik for aid in dealing with a group of humans that hunts him.</p><p>Can be read as a stand-alone, but it'd still be better to read Part 1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Find Your Way

**Author's Note:**

> This [fantastic vid](http://kuwdora.livejournal.com/553788.html) by Kuwdora somehow led to this. Familiarity with both _Sanctuary_ and _X-Men_ is probably best.

Fifteen years pass and the war Erik thought was coming with the humans never happens. The mutants with visible mutations have to hide, but nobody is being rounded up. He builds up his army nonetheless.

One day, there is a message in one of his PO boxes. It's minimal. _Need help_ , it reads, followed by four different sets of coordinates, and the initials NT. Erik can't ignore a fellow mutant's call for aid and with Mystique, Emma and Azazel, teleports to each of the locations in turn. They find Nikola in the third one, a vineyard in central eastern France. He is visibly relieved to see them and ushers them inside quickly.

"I just need to get some effects and then we can leave to wherever you see fit."

Erik motions for the others to wait and follows Nikola up the stairs.

"Sorry for the brief message. I couldn't know when you'd come, and wasn't sure which place I'd be."

"What's going on?"

"There are some people after me. I've managed to shake them." Nikola turns back towards him and stares into his eyes. "They're hunting mutants and experimenting on them. From what I've been able to determine, they're not linked to any governments. I thought that we could help each other."

"What are they doing?" His voice is calm, controlled, but under this veneer, his rage simmers, ready to be unleashed against those who would harm his kind.

"Trying to isolate some characteristics that interest them."

Erik clenches his fists and feels nearby metal bending as his fury grows.

"You know, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't destroy my home," Nikola growls in his mutant voice.

"You are angry too."

"No, I've shifted because you prefer it. I'm a scientist, Erik. I work with my mind, rationally. I wouldn't accomplish much if I let my emotions get the better of me."

Nikola's self-confidence helps him quieten his wrath and find his balance again.

"Hurry up; we have some killing to do."

+++

"There is someone I'd like to find," Nikola says, after they've spent a few days making plans to take down the Cabal, which is what the group hurting mutants calls itself. Erik raises an eyebrow at his fellow mutant.

"Her name is Anna Griffin. She's the daughter of my best friend. Like him, she can turn invisible."

"That could be very helpful," Erik immediately assesses.

"No, we're not putting her in danger," Nikola interjects vehemently.

"How old is she?"

"She should be a few years over twenty," Nikola answers. "I don't exactly remember when she was born," Nikola adds, undoubtedly in response to Erik's dubious look.

"Well, it sounds that she is old enough to decide for herself."

+++

The telepath, Miss Frost, and the shapeshifter, Mystique, are in charge of gathering more intel, before those abnormals more suited to combat move in against the Cabal.

Teleporting with the young Kurt – the son of Azazel and Mystique he's been told – and Erik, Nikola goes to the address he's found for Anna Griffin. She should recognize him – he hasn't changed after all – but he is unsure of the reception he'll get as he's failed to keep in touch.

Nikola knocks on her apartment door. He can tell there's someone inside. Erik radiates impatience, even though he's standing perfectly still. Kurt looks ridiculous, in a trench coat to hide his tail and with a hat low on his brow, shoulders hunched and head down. Steps are taken in the direction of the door, and then it opens.

It is Anna. Same wavy pale blond hair and light blue eyes, but now much taller, about half a head shorter than him. Recognition flashes in her eyes as she looks at him and, after a beat, she closes the door right in his face.

"Wait," he tells Erik, preventing the other man from just pushing the door open with his powers.

After a few seconds, the door is yanked wide open again and Anna throws herself into his arms. He hugs her back tightly. Moving away, she ushers them all in. Once the door is closed again, she walks right into his personal space.

"Where. The. Hell. Have. You. Been," she fumes, punctuating her speech by poking him in the chest with her finger.

"I don't think I can come up with a satisfying answer."

"Try," Anna commands, crossing her arms.

Erik looks amused, if also somewhat impatient.

"There were important things I had to do. Had you contacted me at any time, I'd have come running."

"Contact you how?"

Nikola takes a breath before saying slowly: "Didn't your mother give you my PO box number?"

Anna turns away, taking a few steps towards the window. Erik makes a 'hurry up' motion while Kurt shuffles uncomfortably.

"Would you guys like something to drink?" Anna asks, facing them again.

"Actually, we won't be here long enough for that," Erik says in his smooth voice.

Anna frowns.

"Uncle Nikola, what's going on?"

Nikola feels as if a weight were taken off of his shoulders when Anna calls him what she used to as a child.

"You're in danger. A group of humans is hunting our kind."

"And we could use your help to stop them."

Nikola glares at Erik, Anna looking from one to the other.

"This has nothing to do with the Five, but I know you wouldn't be here if it weren't serious. Just give me five minutes to pack."

+++

Much to Nikola's discontent, Anna decides to take part in their battle against the Cabal, which pleases Erik.

Once they have all their intel, they strike at one base after another. Azazel and Nightcrawler teleport them, Nikola fries their electrical and communication systems, and then the rest of them move in. No base of operation, no secret lab, no hidden office has the chance to warn the others. The Brotherhood only suffers injuries. The only one to be severely wounded is Nikola, but he of course recovers quickly.

Almost everyone parties after, but Erik remains alone until Nikola comes to find him.

"I know what's eating you, and I've been thinking about it."

Erik raises an eyebrow. By now, he knows Nikola well enough to know his plans aren't the best.

"Taking out a group of rogue humans on our own is one thing. However, to deal with those elements which are more or less sanctioned by government agencies, we're going to need people with political creds. That's where Helen Magnus comes in, and from what I understand, your friend Charles Xavier."

"Charles isn't..."

"Really?" Nikola interrupts in a disbelieving ironic tone.

Erik almost growls, and damn the vampire for rubbing off on him.

"At least, we could take what we've learned to them. We need to work on both fronts, lobbying and being nice while being ready to fight and killing those people who are just too hateful to ever accept us."

This is something Erik has considered on occasions, if only to be back with Charles, but it all depends on Charles meeting him halfway, and he doubts Professor X has it in him.

"Does it hurt to at least try?"

"Charles is a powerful telepath."

"Yes, and you have that helmet on yours and I'm impervious to mind probes."

To delay having to make a decision about it, Erik yanks on Nikola's belt buckle, causing the other to fall on top of him.

"You know you could simply ask," Nikola complains without heat before Erik captures his lips in a kiss.

+++

Charles feels it suddenly a burst of new minds, suddenly appearing... on the front steps on the mansion. There is a void among them and also a mind he can't penetrate but which feels like lightning-struck blood-red darkness. There are three others; two he doesn't know – but they feel young – and the last one is Raven. He can recognize the flavour of her mind. _Hello, Charles_. He sends her a greeting in return just as the doorbell rings, and he decides against delving into her mind for now.

"This should be interesting," he says to the person he was conversing with. "Come with me; I'd like you to meet my sister."

Charles rolls his wheelchair out of his office, the high heels of his guest clicking at his side.

The door in the foyer opens on his own before they can reach it and Raven, no, _Mystique_ , walks in, naked and blue and scaly, but Charles only has eyes for Erik who strides in after her. He's wearing his awful helmet; Charles tries to quell the sadness that fills him at the sight.

"Nikola!" echoes the cry of "Helen!" and Charles turns his gaze to the man on Erik's left side. This is the one with the swirl of indecipherable thoughts. Clearly Helen is as shocked to see him as he is to see her. Erik casts a brief glance to the man, who glances swiftly back. A look passes between them and jealousy swells in Charles's heart. To focus his mind on something else, he looks on to the two additional members of Erik's party. The first is a young woman, with loose blonde locks; a brush against her mind shows him her mutation allows her to turn invisible.

"Charles," Mystique says as he's about to turn his attention to the last mutant, "this is my son Kurt."

Charles is so shocked that he can't form any clear thought. Everything is a jumble in his head.

"We have a lot to talk about," Erik puts in.

Charles nods numbly, breathing deeply to bring himself back under control. He rolls himself back in the direction of his study. Helen exchanges some words in a language he doesn't know with the unreadable mutant, who answers in the same tongue.

"I believe formal introductions are in order," Charles says once they're all inside. "I'm Charles Xavier."

"Nikola Tesla," Erik replies, gesturing in the direction of the man now inspecting his liquor cabinet. "I'm sure Dr. Magnus must have talked about him," Erik continues with a smirk, "and that she knows enough to determine who Mystique is."

"And this is Anna Griffin," Tesla says, coming to stand with his hand on the young woman's shoulder, and looking at Helen.

"Dear God," Helen whispers softly.

"Now that we all know each other," Erik begins, "we have a lot to tell you."

And shocking Charles to the core, Erik actually removes his helmet. Charles wants to plunge into his mind, not to control, but to feel tangled with Erik again. It's Erik who reaches out, not letting anything through other than his pleasure at seeing Charles. On the edge of the sensation, Charles senses sorrow and a desire for forgiveness. It takes a few beats for Charles to realize these emotions are linked to his paralysis. _I forgave you a long time ago, my friend._ Erik closes his mind in response, and Charles doesn't push, knowing that could cause Erik to put the helmet back on.

+++

They finish their presentation without interruption from either Charles or Dr. Magnus.

"What you're doing," he then launches into his proposition, "isn't enough. It turns the tide in our favour with some minds, yes, but this proves it isn't enough. Some branch of the US government has backed up this project of experiments on mutants."

"So your proposal is that we just kill them all as you did with the Cabal?" Charles asks, disgust obvious on his face

"They were an independent group and brought this upon themselves," Erik replies heatedly.

"Charles, I was able to shut down Project Montana through convincing the people in charge it was a bad idea," Dr. Magnus calmly says.

"What was that?" Nikola asks

"A project of the British government to scrub the DNA of a group of orphans of all abnormal, or mutant if you prefer, latent genes."

"Do you have the same kind of pull on the US government, Doctor?" Erik asks lowly.

She winces a little bit.

"You could convince them, Charles."

"Erik..."

"You know some people won't change, can't be convinced. And if you don't want me to kill them, you have to offer an alternative other than just sitting there waiting for them to come for our kind."

"There are other telepaths."

"But none as powerful as you. Charles, I've told you before, we need to work together. What have we achieved apart?"

"I've rescued a lot of mutants," Charles protests.

"And you hide here behind those walls. We need solutions for dealing with both types of humans: those who will accept us and those who won't."

Charles is silent for a moment. Erik feels as if everybody is holding their breath.

"Could you leave Erik and me alone for a moment, please?"

The kids, Anna and Kurt, are instantly out of their seats. Nikola and Dr. Magnus look at each other for a second before deciding to leave as well. Erik has to gesture to Mystique to get her to leave. The door clicks shut behind her, the soft sounds seemingly resonating in the silence.

"Erik, will you please let me read your mind?"

"You could do that without asking."

"If I did, you would never come here again."

"Not without my helmet in any case," Erik admits. "Go on then, look."

Erik strives to open the whole of his mind to Charles. They have to stop fighting one another. It's only together that they can accomplish anything worthwhile.

Having Charles in his mind is like coming home. He hides nothing. Not the people he's killed, nor the ones he's fucked. And certainly not the love he still feels for Charles. After some time – how long he can't tell – Charles withdraws, leaving him bereft, even though he's still somewhat aware of Charles's mental presence brushing against his own.

"Do you love him?"

The question takes Erik by surprise. He thought Charles would only delve into the personal once they came to a decision about a course of action. And then there's the utter stupidity of the question.

"You should know considering what you've just done."

Charles blushes slightly. "Well, maybe I'd like to hear you say it."

"Is hearing the words actually more believable than picking thoughts from my mind?" Erik shakes his head fondly at his friend. "Charles, I've only ever loved you; you know that."

Charles plunges into his mind again then, not to read Erik's thoughts, but to share his. _Love you, missed you, want you, don't leave again._ Erik moves without conscious thought and, if Charles is the one commanding him, he doesn't care at all, because he's kissing Charles again, their tongues sliding together. _Wantwantwantlovelovelovelovelovelove_. Their thoughts mesh together, and Erik has no idea where he ends and where Charles begins.

+++

"I'll show you the garden," Mystique says to her son after they exit Professor Xavier's office.

"I'll go with you," Anna says, falling into steps with the two blue mutants.

Anna has clearly inherited her father's perceptiveness, Nikola wavering between grateful and unhappy because a confrontation with Helen just isn't something he feels up to right now.

"It's nice to see you again, Nikola," Helen says with a smile which soon turns into a frown. "However, I'm surprised at the company you keep."

"I met Erik by accident in a bar, and kept in touch because he reminded me of someone, but I can tell you don't remember."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, it's not surprising. You met Harry only once briefly decades ago. Shortly after World War I. You came to fetch me in my lab, because Harry was there to see me; he had a letter I had written him." Helen's eyes lit as she remembers, and nods. "Erik is a very different man, of course. I never would have..." He shakes his head. "But it's a good thing I did as I ended up needing his help."

"You can always come to me for help, you know that."

Nikola doesn't want to examine that statement.

"Have you been working with Charles to find Johnny?"

Helen flinches. "You're changing the subject, Nikola."

"I am, and so are you."

"It's not about John. I've been working with Charles to preserve secrecy. The world's not ready. And abnormals like Erik Lehnsherr don't help at all."

"You can't spend your whole time talking and turning the other cheek."

"You've changed."

"I've grown up."

"Is that what you call becoming so jaded?"

"The world hasn't changed since we've met, Helen. Men still tear each other apart."

"Things _are_ better."

"But not for James, and not for my blue friends, and not for a whole lot of people. I understand Erik. The Nazis sought to exterminate his people, and mine as well. You don't know what that's like."

"Nikola, that's... that's..."

"Look, let's not fight right now. That's not what I came here for. And we have a common enemy."

Helen is furious, breathing heavily, and Nikola pointedly doesn't look at her cleavage.

"Fine," she allows, "but we'll talk later you and I."

She turns back towards the office.

"I don't think we should knock."

"Why not?"

"I can smell a lot of lust coming from the room," Nikola says, smiling, happy for Erik, glad one of them can be with someone they love. "Come on, let's go for a walk."

+++

 **EPILOGUE**

All the experimentation projects are shut down thanks to their effort, Colonel Stryker driven to a vegetative state by Charles, looking for all the world as if he has had a stroke. Erik doesn't see how different that is from killing them, but he has to make concessions. Without Stryker's influence, the rest of them can be talked down or gently mind-pushed in the right direction. Facilities are dismantled so that no one can use them again.

Nikola and Helen say goodbye, the vampire promising to keep in touch, before Azazel takes them to London, Anna tagging along to visit her father's country, even though she's made friends in the Brotherhood.

Charles's students are far from thrilled at having Mystique, Kurt and Erik settling down at the mansion. As Charles welcomes them however, Erik couldn't care less. The mutants he's recruited stay at the Brotherhood's facilities for now, but Charles has promised to work with Helen and Erik so that everybody can find the place where they need to be.

 _Don't even think of finding an empty room to sleep in_ , Charles says in his mind.

 _Wherever should I go then, Charles? The rec room?_ Erik sends back, amused.

 _Only if you don't know what's good for you._

 _And for you_ , Erik finishes.

+++

James is watching with far too much knowledge in his eyes, and Nikola keeps hoping that he won't figure it out, what Nikola was doing when he attracted the Cabal's attention. For now, he's given up, choosing instead to work with Helen and James, and Charles and Erik.

Anna once more saves his hide by asking for stories of her father, Nikola making note to buy her something outrageously expensive as thanks. Helen relaxes, as does James after a while, and for a moment, it feels as if decades haven't passed.

+++

"I'll find a mutant that has healing capabilities," Erik promises as he lies in bed next to Charles for the first time in far too long.

"Erik, you don't need..."

"No, I do. I need to fix this."

"Helen has tried to help."

Erik knows the Doctor is brilliant. However, simply because she hasn't found a way yet doesn't mean she won't ever.

"But she didn't have Nikola at hand, did she? He has healing powers. If we could isolate the right gene..."

"Remember how it went with Hank and Raven's DNA."

"This is different. At worst, you'll grow fangs; it's not so bad."

Charles hums, taking Erik's hand in his. "Well, if he agrees to it, why not."

Relief floods Erik. Charles may only be indulging him, but even so it could still result in him walking again.

"Come closer," Charles whispers, and Erik does, sliding until he's touching Charles all along his side. He wraps his free arm around Charles's waist, keeping a tight hold on his friend's hand. He loops a leg over Charles's, even though he won't feel it. His chin is against Charles's shoulder, and when Charles turns his head, their lips touch, Erik's mind opening to welcome Charles's in.

They fall asleep like that, softly kissing and minds entangled.


End file.
